Unpacking Sunday's Sermon: Elijah

All at once, a strong wind shook the mountain and shattered the rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind. Next, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Finally, there was a gentle breeze, and when Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his coat. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. 1 Kings 19:11-13 CEV

In today's sermon we heard how a desperate Elijah feld to Mount Horeb/Mount Sinai. We are not told why he went there, but for Elijah this would have been a religiously significant place. Biblical commentator Brent Strawn reminds us that this 'mountain of God' is "the same mountain...where Moses communed with God, saw God's backside, and received the Ten Commandments [and] where Israel entered into covenant with God.". 

Elijah undoubtedly felt that this was the place to meet God, and he likely had certain expectations of how God would be revealled. And so it is interesting for us to note the many different ways that the Lord does not appear to Elijah. The wind howled, the earth shook, and fires rages, but the Lord was in none of these signs that normally demonstrated God's presence. Instead the Lord was in, what the CEV describes as "a gentle breeze" (1 Kings 19:12 CEV).

This unusual encounter with God was likely designed as a lesson to help Elijah realise the mundane ways that God works in the world.

This raises at least a couple questions for us. How does God speak to us? And what are signs of God's activity in the world?

How does God speak to us?

In the pentecostal church of my childhood, God was heard in ecstatic speak. Each Sunday morning after a set of praise choruses, one woman would speak in tongues, and then declare in English the word the that Lord had for those who had gathered. Now if she turned up at most Presbyterian churches she would be escorted out the door. But at that church she was considered a prophet. In our church we listen for God in the reading and proclamation of Scripture. But are there other ways that God speaks to us? How about silence, dreams, the wise counsel of friends???

What are signs of God's activity in the world?

For those who have not spent any time in charismatic circles it would seem obvious that miraculous events are clear indications of God's activity. But veterans of those circles would be quick to advise us that the spirits need to be tested. Fire from the heavens doesn't always come from God! Prosperity preachers tell us that material blessings are signs of God's favour. And yet we realise that our Lord advised his missionaries to travel lightly and didn't have a home of his own. So what are undenaiable signs of God's presence? Borrowing a page from Bishop Michael Curry's royal wedding sermon it would seem that love itself is proof of God's presence, for as John's epistle reminds us, God is love (1 John 4:7-8). We might be on the lookout for other spiritual fruit even as we discern God's presence: joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Illustration: "Elijah Fed by an Angel" by Ferdinand Bol